C169

Lin Shu was silent.

As a person of two lifetimes, although she had never been to the Tianjin, she had heard of military camps that required strict requirements and a shortage of food. Thinking about it, the war between Northwest and Fujian was chaotic, and the materials needed for them were sent to these two places as soon as possible, thus the Tianjin's conditions were very harsh.

Many commoners said that if it weren't for the fact that the family was unable to continue living, they would never send their son into this fire pit.

Lu Jingran thought back to the situation at the Tianjin back then, and the corners of his mouth slightly curled up. No one mocked me because I am the eldest son of the National Duke Ning Palace. No one mocked my silkpants, and no one even knew who the National Duke Ning Palace was, as if I was a family member who relied on their military merits to eat and drink large mouthfuls of meat. That's what people call family. "

However, even if he was happy, he didn't dare to reveal his abilities. He knew that there was someone keeping an eye on him!

"Uncle Jingtang …" Lin Shu's mouth twitched, she had heard of the battle that happened one year ago in Fujian, when Fujian was in a panic, Tianjin sent ten thousand soldiers, but in the end, there were less than a thousand that survived. It was probably because of this matter that National Duke Ning called Lu Jingran back to the capital in a hurry.

Lu Jingran shook his head, "It's fine."

When he thought of his brothers, he felt very upset, but then he smiled, "Death is the only thing that matters, even if it means death. Last year, we defeated those pirates and protected the people along the coast, so we didn't die in vain."

The current him was still loyal!

Lin Shu didn't know what had happened in her previous life. Lu Jingran had become a deceitful subject that people could kill. "I hope Uncle Jingtang will remember these soldiers who died in battle …"

Just that before she could finish speaking, Lu Jingran stood up and nodded at her, then turned and left.

Lin Shu was stunned, why was this man here, he was the one who sought him out just now, why did she leave just like that?

"Fourth Miss, your servant has finally found you. When Third Miss saw that you had disappeared, he ordered someone to look for you, saying that the Emperor had given you some pastries and wanted you to go back and have a taste together."

Lin Shu glanced at the direction where Lu Jingran had left. There was already no one there, she nodded and followed Maid.

It was true that Lu Jingran said that he was not drunk just now. Otherwise, how would he know that he would have avoided the suspicion when he heard footsteps approaching?

In the courtyard, cheers and laughter could be heard from afar, many of them already voiced out their congratulations. From the looks of it, not only the empress cherishes you, but the emperor values you as well. "

Zhang Yuanqing said with a slight smile on his face. "Don't you all dare say that. The emperor isn't thinking highly of Lateral Consort Wang and me, but rather of the third prince.

Seeing Lin Shu come in, the smile on her face became wider, "Sister Shu, you're finally back. We searched for you but couldn't find you, which really made us anxious."

As she said that, she pushed a beautiful plate of rose juice in front of Lin Shu, "This is something bestowed by the emperor from the palace. She said that it's a new pastry made by the imperial cooks and after taking a bite, there's even rose sauce that has flowed out, it's very sweet."

The way the crowd looked at Lin Shu changed from belittling him to hating him.

Lin Shu waved the pomegranate in his hand, smiling as she said: "Just now, when I went out for a stroll, I saw that the pomegranates in the flower garden were not bad, so I picked one for you, as a form of offering gifts."

Zhang Yuanqing pursed his lips and laughed, his smile carrying a bit of shyness.

"Yo, Fourth Miss is so kind, didn't you go there to pick a pomegranate?" These words sounded a bit weird.

Lin Shu recognized her. She was Zhang Yuanqing's distant cousin, the one who had been the most flattering to him just now.

How could she not know what these people were thinking? The third prince had invited the prince and his relatives to a banquet in the flower garden, afraid that someone else would think otherwise. "Naturally, not only did you pick a pomegranate, you also sent a pomegranate to Lateral Consort Wang from the maidservant by my side."

Zhang Yuanqing's smile did not waver. "If you didn't say so, I would have forgotten. Originally, you lived in the Tzu Ning Palace for a period of time, so you should have some friendship with Lateral Consort Wang.

She was chattering nonstop. It seemed like she was just exchanging pleasantries, but her purpose was extremely good.

Lin Shu finally understood her intentions. Smiling, she interrupted her, "I have only met Lateral Consort Wang a few times. At that time, even though I had lived in the Tzu Ning Palace for a while, I spent most of my time in the west wing's rooms. I rarely showed my face in front of the empress dowager, so I didn't see much of Lateral Consort Wang."

Zhang Yuanqing had never lied, but it was a pity that he was only smart, these little tricks, after being seen by others, he would not be left with any of them, which was probably why Empress Zhang had chosen her.

Although his identity seemed noble, his family did not have any background. He was smart, but not that smart. Such a person was most suited to be a chess piece.

"Sister Shu, are you joking with me again? That day, you were able to obtain the favor of the empress dowager and Princess Changze and enter the Tzu Ning Palace. Back then, I wonder how many people you were envious of. The smile in the depths of Zhang Yuanqing's eyes had disappeared, he only felt that Lin Shu was intentionally trying to befriend Wang Manjing.

Lin Shu knew a lot of things about her, although they were insignificant, but a person like Wang Manjing was not simple, who knew what kind of clues she could come up with.

Lin Shu laughed, she did not plan to reply.

There was nothing more to say between her and Zhang Yuanqing from the start.

On the other hand, Lin Hui couldn't help but walk forward and reply, "It's true, this Sister Shu didn't lie. Elder Sister Zhang, think about it, if this Sister Shu really gets liked by the empress dowager, why would she return to the Duke Xinzhong’s Mansion later on?"

The matter of Lin Shu being sent out of the Tzu Ning Palace was extremely popular in the past. In the eyes of the masses, this girl being raised in the name of the empress dowager was like flying up a branch to become a phoenix, but having a perfectly fine young lady be sent out again, this was truly a first for Daqing Dynasty.

After experiencing the Princess Changze's murder of Lin Shu, the events of that year had once again been exposed, and were even the topic of discussion.

There were several more times where Zhang Yuanqing couldn't help but try to probe Lin Shu, but in the end, he couldn't get any answers.

Waiting for Lin Shu and Lin Hui to listen to their child's play, they took their leave.

Just as Lin Shu had passed through the Flower Door, a Maid stopped her, "Fourth Miss, Lateral Consort Wang has invited you."

Lin Shu nodded, then said to Lin Hui: "You can go to the main gate and wait for me, I will come out immediately", then turned and followed Maid.

Even though they were both Lateral Consort s, they were still separated by sizes. The courtyard Wang Manjing lived in, and the maids serving him were far from being able to compare to the people and courtyard around Zhang Yuanqing, but even so, Wang Manjing still had a somewhat relaxed expression on her face. She was currently resting on the Noble Consort's bed, and when she heard the footsteps, he slightly opened her eyes, "Fourth Miss is here?"

Her attitude was noble, as if she was the real female patriarch.

Lin Shu went forward and bowed, "Greetings Lateral Consort Wang."

Wang Manjing waved to the servant beside her, and everyone left the room. She then sat up straight and smiled: Fourth Miss, how have you been!

The relationship between the two was like a vine, tightly entwined, yet she had the ability to leave everything behind.

Just based on this capability, Lin Shu did not dare to look down on her, "I'm fine, looking at Lateral Consort Wang now, it seems that everything is going well." Nothing else.

Wang Manjing was actually wary of her. Forget about everything else, these years, she kept repeating that dream of the Princess Changze strangling her neck to kill her and giving her to Wang Pei as a concubine … Although there was no longer any chance for Princess Changze to make a comeback, there were still people who knew about it and she would not be able to live peacefully.

Furthermore, Lin Shu had some sort of relationship with him, so Zhang Yuanqing was even more worried, "Fourth Miss said that everything is alright? These words are different from what I have heard before. Everyone said that Fourth Miss with Duke Xinzhong’s Mansion must be a little crazy, to actually say such nonsense in front of First Princess Pingning and all the other wives. If I remember correctly, Fourth Miss is about to turn old, but up until now, there hasn't even been a single person who came to propose marriage. I wonder what kind of urgent situation Fifth Madam is in! "

With her current abilities, there was no way she could take Lin Shu's life. Since she couldn't get rid of him, then she would do everything in her power to win Lin Shu over for her to use.

If the two of them stood on the same boat and shared life and death, then Lin Shu would never tell anyone about this matter … Furthermore, if she could win over Lin Shu, she had a 100% chance of defeating him.

She was now eighty percent sure, but she wasn't satisfied.

Her way of doing things had always required 100% confidence!

Lin Shu laughed, "Thank you Lateral Consort Wang for your concern, but marriage is not something that can be rushed, so what if I don't marry for life? The days that should have passed were the same. What should have come, would eventually come as well … If there really is someone who doubts my virtues and does not dare to come and propose marriage because of this gossip, then what kind of pity would it be for such a family not to marry? "